A factitious disorder or FD is an illness whose
symptoms are either self-induced or falsified by the patient. The motives
of the patient can vary: for a patient with Munchausen syndrome their primary
aim is to obtain sympathy and nurturance, while in the case of malingering
the patient wishes to obtain external gains such as drugs or disability
payments.

Factitious disorders should be distinguished
from conversion disorder, in which the patient is unaware that the symptoms
being experienced are not medically caused.

The information above is not intended
for and should not be used as a substitute for the diagnosis and/or treatment
by a licensed, qualified, health-care professional. This article is licensed
under the GNU Free Documentation
License. It incorporates material originating from the Wikipedia article
"Factitious
disorder".